Cal Lord: If we take time to stop and think, we’ll continue to move forward

THE REV. CAL LORD

Saturday

Dec 27, 2008 at 12:01 AMDec 27, 2008 at 12:58 PM

I left church on Monday afternoon, and like Santa Claus I had presents to deliver.

I left church on Monday afternoon, and like Santa Claus I had presents to deliver.

As I approached the police station I realized I had a problem. The reverse gear in the car I was driving was not working. I had to figure out a way to park the car so I didn’t need to back up.

I discovered this problem with my daughter’s car that morning. The car was stuck at her friend’s house. Going straight ahead was no problem. So we rolled it out of the driveway. I let Sarah drive my car and I took her car. I didn’t have to go very far. Or so I thought.

I got to church and discovered I had several places to go, and a number of things to finish up, before I could park the car and go home. During the next three hours I discovered that you can indeed live life without ever having to go backwards, as long as you plan ahead.

Planning was key. At the hospital, I found a parking space where I could pull straight through. At the gym, I saw some spaces on a little hill. I pulled around and rolled back into a space. At the bank, I went through the drive-through window. Everything was going well until I approached the police department. It was a busy place, and it presented my greatest challenge. But I had presents to drop off.

After driving by the station three times I came up with a plan. I double parked across the street and ran across with my gifts. I just hoped that I could get in and out before someone came along and ticketed me.

It struck me that if we lived life this way, we would have far fewer regrets. If we actually thought before we spoke or considered the consequences of our actions before we did something, we wouldn’t have to reverse direction and take two steps back before moving forward again. We wouldn’t need to ask for forgiveness as often.

As we stand on the brink of a new year, many of us will be making resolutions. My prayer is for you and I to be more deliberate in our actions this year.

My hope is that each of us will be more considerate in our interactions with each other. I would like to see us be more generous, not only with our resources, but also with our temperament and judgment. If we live with the love of God in our hearts, we may just find that we will be doing less backing up and realize many more blessings as we live life in his grace.

The Rev. Cal Lord is pastor of First Baptist Church in Norwich. He writes a weekly column, which appears Saturdays. To get in touch, e-mail FBCNorwich@aol.com, visit www.fbcnorwich.org or call 889-0369.

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